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Fremont County Commissioner Ed Norden: A retrospect on county finance

Posted:
09/02/2016 10:43:35 AM MDT

Ed Norden

This fall marks the 12th Fremont County budget preparation in which I've been involved. As I approach my final four months in office, I've been thinking a lot recently about where we've been and where we're going fiscally in Fremont County.

When I entered office in 2005, we faced immense budget challenges. Voter approval in 2003 of $42 million in bonded debt for Cañon City and Florence school construction shifted a huge amount of specific ownership taxes from motor vehicle registrations to the two school districts. The shift cost Fremont County government more than $250,000 a year.

In 2006, with stagnant revenues and increasing inmate numbers the commissioners and the sheriff asked the voters for property tax increases totaling 8 mills to pay for the sheriff's needs along with road and bridge maintenance. The two measures were soundly defeated.

But problems worsened. In 2007, we returned to the voters with two more ballot questions. One measure proposed a one cent sales-tax increase for the sheriff while the other measure proposed an eight year time out from Tabor revenue restrictions. The voters rejected the sales tax, but OK'd the Tabor timeout, saying they recognized that the county was in dire need of some fiscal relief. Another proposal for a ½ cent sales tax increase to be used exclusively by the sheriff's department also was rejected by the voters in 2009.

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The Tabor timeout allowed the county to keep any excess revenues beyond calculations for growth and the cost of living. It helped but not as much as expected. The recessionary years of 2010-2013 saw revenues drop in both property taxes and sales tax. There was not much excess revenue. Those were tough years. I do not exaggerate when I say I lost sleep over the fact that our General Fund reserves in the 2010 budget dropped to $275,000. A significant flash flood could have devastated our budget.

We survived. County departments were reorganized, elected officials eliminated several positions, and we cut expenses. Not that it didn't come at a price to county employees. Like the private sector, they paid the biggest price in working several years without any pay increases.

Relief came in 2013 with voter approval of a one cent sales tax for the sheriff's department. Sheriff Beicker detailed how the money would be spent to upgrade the department not only in staff numbers and salaries but also in capital improvements. Witness the jail's kitchen and laundry renovations that began this week. Then in 2014, voters approved permanent deBrucing of all county revenues a year before the conclusion of the eight year Tabor timeout.

In retrospect, it was a long time to get to this point. But many fiscal challenges remain. The sheriff's sales tax has relieved the strain on the General Fund and the commissioners have kept our pledge to maintain a base of $3.9 million in General Fund support for the sheriff. Yet, Fremont County has a ways to go to keep up with road maintenance and improvements. Roads continue to deteriorate faster than the monies we can find to improve them. In 2016, we shifted $250,000 from the PILT fund (Payment in Lieu of Taxes—federal money) into the Road and Bridge Fund. We'll likely consider doing that again for 2017. But the balance of $1 million in PILT money is still needed in the General Fund to operate the county.

The District Attorney's Office is seeking another $100,000 to $200,000 in annual funding for prosecutors' salaries and to replace lost revenues. Fremont County is responsible for 55 percent of any increase approved by the four counties.

While sales-tax revenue continues to grow it's important to note that under the current 2016 budget our anticipated expenses exceed expected revenues. So we're again pulling money from our reserves to balance the budget. We started this year with $1.8 million in General Fund reserves and are now targeted to end the year at $1.2 million. Unexpected growth in sales tax is great, but it only gets us closer to actually having revenues match expenses. My goal was to always get to at least $1 million or $1.5 million in reserves, but it should be more. We have smaller neighboring counties with at least $3 million in reserves.

Also keep in mind that the sheriff's sales tax has a 10-year sunset. In another six years, voters likely will be asked to fund a permanent tax for the sheriff. With capital improvements accomplished by then, it would be great if voters could be asked to approve something less than a full one percent.

It's my hope that Fremont County's improving fiscal condition through voter confidence is a testament to restoring trust in county government. Trust shown in Sheriff Beicker; the current Board of Commissioners on which I serve with Debbie Bell and Tim Payne; as well as the previous commissioners I served with, Larry Lasha and Mike Stiehl. We have worked hard to operate Fremont County in a strong, conservative and efficient fiscal manner. That philosophy is further emphasized in our hiring of Sunny Bryant as the county Finance and Budget Officer and who has now also assumed the duties of County Manager. We share a mutual respect for use of taxpayers' money.

When I leave office in January with a reputation of having been frugal, that's OK. That's the way it should be when you're spending someone else's money. I sincerely believe that the recessionary times and the fiscal problems we dealt with has left Fremont County operating with a leaner and more efficient county government.

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